Rise of the New Guardians: A Big Four Fanfic
by WelcomeToColumbia
Summary: Pitch Black has been defeated by the Guardians and the wonder of the world has been restored. But a new threat has risen to power, one that looks to not only destroy the Guardians but the light of all things as well. The Guardians must now call on the help of several very specific legendary beings to fight this foe, or risk an eternity of darkness. (Feedback is appreciated.)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Darkness.

That's the first thing I remember.

It was dark, it was cold, and I was scared.

But then…then I saw the moon. It was so big, and it was so bright…too bright.

I shrank back into the cave from whence I crawled from. The light… it burned my skin in a way I could not fathom. But why? It was beautiful… Like the fool I was, I found myself reaching for it again; how could I not? It seemed impossible that something so sublime could hurt me. But it did.

Really…what did I expect?

Eventually the moon went down, and I must admit, I stayed up all night to watch it. When it left me, I again ventured outside of my little crevice. The sunlight at least was tolerable, though I did get the most irritating itch wherever it touched exposed skin—well, 'skin' being a loosely defined term. I've often thought about it; why does the sun not inflict pain on me equivalent to that of the moon? The closest answer I can come to is that it must have something to do with fire.

Fire…such a lovely thing. Such a lovely, wicked, disgusting thing, and I its master.

I did not travel far before I came across a village. It was there that I found ordinary people living their lives in harsh conditions, fighting bitter, horrible cold and a low supply of food. They did not see me, even in daytime. I stuck to the shadows and watched—oh how I watched. Everything was so normal, and though these tiny people had nothing, and though they wore scraps of cloth for clothes, they were happy. I still do not know why.

Weeks passed, and my vigil never ceased. I learned quickly that the world of man could be cruel, but I also witnessed how deeply it could love. The event in question that brought my epiphany to light (if you'll pardon the pun) occurred at the pond just outside of town. A boy, a little younger than me, gave his life in order to save his sister. He saved his sister from the ice, and how did the world thank him for it? With indifference. His life meant nothing simply because fate demanded it. That's what I thought anyway.

The boy's name was Jack.

It was a nice name. One I could use.

It was only a matter of time before I saw them; the woman with her feathers and wings, the fat man and his reindeer, the rabbit with his eggs, and the man of sand. They did not see me either. I watched them as they drove the darkness into a hole, and lit up the world with a wonderful light; a light that would hurt me whenever it touched.

Hopefully—or should I say, 'naively'—I thought I could be apart of it. Every night, the townsfolk would have a large fire burning in the middle of the market. I had not shown myself before, and I was nervous. I chose a day in the fall when the moon was dark, and steeling myself, I stepped forth to be bathed in glorious golden light.

But then it all went wrong.

While no one but the children could see the Guardians, creatures made of hopes and dreams, everyone could see the nightmarish creature that was me. My smile and raspy voice did nothing to soothe the clamor that followed my appearance; they were too afraid to listen, and I soon discovered why. The image of the creature in the nearby window was not of this Earth, but of an abyss fouler than anything any writer or poet could conjure.

The bottles and brick flung at me passed through my body like smoke. I pleaded with them to stop, I implored for them to understand that I meant no harm; that I could not if I had wanted to. Needless to say I eventually found myself talking to nothing but air. Thin air…and the fire.

With palms at my sides, I stared long and hard into the flickering light. I held my hand up to it; it did not hurt! But the angry tears that swelled from my yellow eyes hurt more than any beam of moonshine could. I was hurt. I was furious. I was bitter.

And it was that moment that I consider to be my true birth.

Moonlight hurt, the Sun ached, and the Earth would shun me whenever it saw my face.

If I could not become one with the light, then I would take some for my own!

The fire welcome me like an old friend. It was warm, and it felt right. I gathered it inside my body and held it there for as long as I could, but it would seep out through my eyes and mouth when my concentration slipped. So I grabbed the nearest thing in sight; a pumpkin, oddly enough; one large enough to fit over my head, and with it I fashioned another face to keep the fire inside. But that wasn't enough. I needed a way to keep the rest of that filthy, disgusting light off of me. A nearby long-coat offered me solace, and as soon as my fiery hands touched it's leather it turned into a shade of black as dark as night. It melded to my body, growing to fit my skeletal proportions and billowing about me like an angry swarm of locusts.

It was only then did I know my true calling, and the reason why I was summoned to this world. It was to erase the light. All of it. And all of those who would shun the darkness.

I would not fail like my brother. Oh no, he was too impatient; too ambitious. I would hide, and bide my time. And that's exactly what I've done. I've waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited to the point where I've gone mad.

But now I am ready. My brother has failed twice now; he does no service to the darkness. To give him credit though, he did reveal one thing about the Guardians this time around: their weakness. Oh Guardians, I have such a surprise for you.

I know they will fight.

I know they will lose.

And soon, the _world_ will know just who the real Jack is.


	2. Before The Storm, Part 1

**Chapter 1: Before the Storm**

Jack Frost didn't do romance.

Oh, he knew he was good looking. And smart. And strong. And fun. Honestly, he was practically an angel.

Alright, that might've been a bit of an exaggeration, but still, he knew he wasn't half-bad. The thing was, after 300 years of doing the whole lone-wolf thing he really didn't know what to do about Tooth.

The great clock struck 12, and Big Ben tolled the hour. He stretched from his perch, working the kinks from his bones. It was a nice night. Manny was out in full, the air was crisp and Christmas was just around the corner. It'd be a nice flight. So long merry old England, hello Tooth Palace.

"Alright wind, carry me there!" he shouted with a smile, spreading his arms and jumping out into empty space.

With a whoosh the wind rose to greet him, and sent him rocketing away down the brightly lit streets of London. It wasn't long before the British Isles was just a golden speck amidst the ocean.

Tooth and Jack had gradually grown closer after the Bogeyman ordeal. It was one of those things where everybody had seen a relationship developing but him and Tooth. Meh, he thought. It doesn't really matter. We're here now.

He scratched his head. "Maybe I should bring flowers or something." Nah, they'd only wilt around him. Ah well, he'd wing it. What could go wrong?

"Famous last words", he laughed.

...

It didn't take long to get to Tooth's place, but is still would've been much shorter if he had snagged one of the Big Man's snow globes. He wouldn't have missed one or six. Ah whatever, he'd make due.

The palace was in much better repair with all of the teeth back in the proper places. The fairies fluttered about, busy as always. They were fun to fly with when they weren't working, which was rare, but usually they couldn't be bothered with anything that wasn't tooth related when they were on the job. That wasn't really the case when they saw him though. Whenever he'd show up they'd momentarily stop whatever they were doing and twirl about him, chitter their hellos, then hurriedly fly off again. That was fine, but man did their feathers tickle.

"Alright, alright alright! Easy, easy g-aht! Get out of there! Ha ha!" He shook a couple of the more daring ones out of his hoodie and they quickly darted away, giggling.

"Okay, girls stop for a second. I'm looking for the boss lady. She around?"

A hole opened up in the cloud and a few of them beckoned to follow. Gently extracting himself from the flurry of wings, Jack called a goodbye and dashed away, following his guides. He looked around at the passing fairies. "So where's Baby Tooth?"

The fairies looked back at him conspiratorially, but they didn't say a word. They brought him to the central hub before darting off in different directions. Confused, he landed on the ceramic tiles and looked around. There were a bunch of the helper fairies, but no Tooth Fairy. "Hey! Tooth!" he called out. A few looks from the minies but nothing else. He leaned against his staff. "Where is she?" An unbroken stream of squeaks caught his ear. He turned, and in the middle of a swirl of fairies he saw one directing the others in place of Tooth.

"Baby Tooth!"

The little fairy jumped and turned around in surprise. When she saw whom it was she jumped again, this time in happiness, and flew straight to his face to envelope his cheek in a hug. He felt something metallic brush his skin when she did. Curious, he smiled and cupped her in his palm, much like old times. He brought her up to his face.

"Its great to see you to li-", he stopped spying the metal object on her head. "Well well, what's this little miss?"

She puffed out her chest and held her head high, wearing the golden circlet with pride. Baby Tooth started to flit about the air with excitement, trying to explain in her high-pitched language, but Jack held up a hand.

"Woah woah easy, you know I can't understand you guys yet. But lemme guess, Tooth is out in the field again huh?"

Baby Tooth nodded quickly and twirled around, showing off her circlet with gusto.

"Aaaand she put Pearl in charge didn't she? Relax, I'm only joking!" he laughed at her indignant huff. "Oh c'mon," he said as she continued to pout, "hey, you look great."

After a few seconds her cloudy face reversed back to her cheerful one. Jack chuckled. "Alright, so when is the head hancho gonna be back?"

"Oh I don't know, how about right now?"

He was tackled from the side in a fearsome bear hug, one that knocked the breath out of him. "Jack!" Toothiana said, lifting him up and spinning him around in her tight embrace. "You came!"

"Ergmfenme…"

"What?"

"You're crushing my lungs."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, releasing him at once. "Sorry!"

"Oof…erg…yeah" he coughed, "it's ok, I love to get the air squeezed from my body every now and again. Healthy. Real refreshing." He pounded his chest to get things working right again.

"Strong talk from a man who doesn't even have flowers for his beautiful date."

Jack rolled his eyes. Figures.

"Yeah but you were late, so I'd think we were even."

"Mm. You'd think wrong."

They stared at each other with raised eyebrows for a good five seconds before erupting into laughter. After the chuckling stopped they hugged again, a bit longer and with much less rib crushing this time. Even Baby Tooth who had been watching from a distance decided to join in.

Eventually they left one another's embrace. As soon as they did, Baby Tooth started up with the real boss in what sounded to be an important conversation. The number of fairies who had been waiting for their assignments (which was growing by the second) hovered close by, impatient but somewhat understanding.

"Yes…Oh really?" Tooth held up a finger to Jack, asking for a moment. "That many? Well…Yes, I understand. Hmm…Ok, divert the Australian branch towards China and have them carry double duty. They're tough girls, I'm sure they can handle it. And don't worry, you've been doing great!"

Baby Tooth fluttered, encouraged, and darted back to her post. Tooth watched her go. She sighed. "A problem, but nothing new. They have been doing so much better. Some of them do still worry about going out at night, but I think they're getting over it. October was really tricky, what with it being Pitch's time of the year."

Jack nodded. "Yeah I'll bet, I'd be scared to if I had to look at Pitch's face again."

She pushed him. "I'm serious Jack."

"So am I." He smiled.

She cocked her head at him in the way a mom will when humoring her kid.

"What am I going to do with you?"

He shrugged. "You could always pull out my teeth."

A mischievous smile crossed her face before she turned. "Let's get going, sunrise is in a few hours."

Jack's confident smile turned down in disbelief. "Wait, Tooth, you wouldn't do that would-HEY! TOOTH!"

Women.


	3. Before the Storm, Part 2

Before the Storm, Part 2

"Amd magrogah brgam!"

"I don't care what Steven says, production on the remote control airplanes needs to increase! Christmas is a week away! "

"Bamokee?"

"Yes, do that. And cut back work on the rag dolls, girls these days prefer Barbie. Bring Phil he'll help. Now I need to get back to my list, so das badanya!"

"Tori-"

North ushered the yeti out of his office, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

"Glinka!" he cursed. This was the worst possible time for several of his workers to be sick in bed. With a heavy sigh, he sat back at his desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose. If he wasn't already fat he was sure that he'd be thin as a rail from all the exhaustion of the past few weeks. Regardless, he got back to work. He hadn't made a single error on his list in the past 200 years and he wasn't about to break that streak. He yawned. It was so early…

Suzy, nice. Dexter, nice. Gwendolyn, nice. Lana, naughty, Kevin, naughty…

He winced as another knock came at the door. All these interruptions! He could barely go a minute without one! At least it wasn't another yeti; if it had been he wouldn't have knocked. An elf then, the knock was certainly low enough to the ground.

"What! What, what is it? What do you want now?" Deeply annoyed, he got up yet again, unlocked the door and looked down only to be confronted with someone far different than one of his screwball workers.

"Sandy! Vol tak syurpriz!" North exclaimed, grabbing the little man in a fierce hug only to drop him just as quickly. He spat out the sand that had hit his mouth, and made sure to brush out whatever had gotten in his beard. He was already feeling sleepy.

The sandman stood there, one eyebrow raised and a half-smile, half-grimace on his face. He fixed his now disheveled hair with slow movements as he waited for the Big Man to compose himself.

"Bleh! Pah! Ech, sorry my friend. Please, come in! I have warm milk and cookies for you!" Not needing to be told twice, Sandy happily entered. He lightly sat down in a chair across from Santa's.

"So, Sandy", Santa said as he poured the milk. "What brings you here? Are you not busy? You and Toothy never rest. Though, heh heh, I could say the same for myself lately." He handed him his glass and placed the plate in the middle, taking one or two chocolate chips for himself.

The Sandman took the glass with a heavy countenance. Santa waited politely, munching on his cookie as quietly as he could. It was a while before either of them said anything. But finally, the Sandman broke the silence between them with a picture above his head.

It was a pumpkin.

North looked at it, wide eyed. "A pumpkin?"

Sandy nodded his head quickly. The picture changed to that of a sleeping child, and then back to the pumpkin, only this time the pumpkin had a face on it: a Jack O' Lantern.

Santa shook his head. "Sandy, I do not understand. Do you mean to be telling me that a child is dreaming of scary pumpkins?" Sandy nodded again, a look of extreme concern overcoming his face. The picture above his head was now animated, with the child squirming in bed.

"Sandy, even though Pitch is gone his influence will still remain. What is a single, fleeting nightmare? It is nothing that you should worry about!"

The little man slammed his glass of milk down on the table so hard that milk sloshed over the side. He jumped up in his chair and gave Santa the hard stare he reserved for very serious occasions and intense battles. He held up his hand to North's face, and in it a shape began to form. That shape became a sphere, and then that sphere became the Earth. The Sandman set the other shapes next to it: the Jack O Lantern and the sleeping child in distress.

It took Santa a few seconds to get it, and when he did, he froze. Realization dawned on his face.

"The children," he said, stunned. "All of the children."

The shapes disappeared in a cloud of sand. The Sandman sat back, clearly troubled, and crossed his arms. Santa realized that it wasn't just himself who didn't understand the situation. He reached across the table and grabbed his old friend's shoulder in a firm grip.

"You listen, my friend. I don't know how he did it, but he is back already. I will call the others, we will leave at once!"

Sandy shook his head and looked at North. The picture above his head was a silhouette of Pitch, but it had a large 'X' over most of his body. The meaning to this one, at least, was clear.

"_Not _Pitch? Are you sure?"

His face was set in this belief, and from what Santa could discern from the sudden flashes of different forms above his head, his comrade was certain it was not Pitch.

Now it was Santa's turn to be the troubled one. He crossed his arms. "This is not good. What are we dealing with here?"

Sandy threw up his arms, sand erupting from his hands.

"No, no! Forgiveness, I was just talking out loud." He chewed at his cheek, mulling it over. This was very bad. Something like this had never happened before, and whatever the reason, it meant something big was about to happen."Whatever it is, it is messing with your dreams, and it involves pumpkins. Perhaps the Night Mares are loose? Perhaps they have a favorite fodder?"

Now Sandy just plopped his head against the desk. He held up a finger, and the picture was now a Night Mare with a cross sign.

"Bah", the old man spat. "We must call the others."

Sandman shook his head vigorously, opposed to the idea.

"Then we must talk to Manny! He'll—"

He was interrupted as yet another pounding came at the door.

North paused midsentence, but quickly recovered. He shouted, "Go away! Whatever it is, it can wait!"

The pounding continued more incessantly than before.

North shoved his chair back and strode over to the door, angry.

"I said, whatever it is, it can wa-"

The door burst open with such force that it almost shattered. He brought his fists up, ready to fight with Sandy right behind him. But standing there, albeit very shakily, was one of his yetis. Blinking, he slowly dropped his hands

"Frank? Is that you? You are unwell! What are you—" It was then that he noticed what was in Frank's hand. It was almost as if Sandy's picture had come to life. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Santa was at a loss for words.

Perched in the sick yeti's hand was none other than the Jack O Lantern itself, grinning an evil smile, and burning so hot the pumpkin seemed to melt.

"Taneyev", he breathed.

It looked like there would be no more work today.


	4. The Message Delivered

Chapter 3: The Message Delivered

The paintbrush moved deftly across the marble-white surface as it created a picture no ordinary being could match. A beautiful picture of a nighttime scene, lit up with fireworks filled the previously empty space. And looking on from the best seat in the house was the Man in the Moon, lighting up the fairgrounds with his ethereal glow.

"Theere we go," the Easter Bunny said as he shook the egg lightly to get the magic flowing. It took a minute, but soon the paint was moving like a video. The fireworks shot up and exploded in silent color as people laughed and pointed from below. He smiled at his craft. Many people wondered what he did with all the spare time he had after Easter, and the truth was he didn't do much. All of the work he accomplished was in the week before his humble holiday; any time before and his eggs would start to reek. So to pass the time he'd work on his egg bombs, maybe catch a rugby match, or look in on a friend (Santa was still a bit of a blowhard though, especially now in December.)

Or he'd work on several, very special eggs, ones that wouldn't spoil or crack. They took a while, but crikey they were worth it.

He set the egg on it's own cushioned pedestal right with its mates. Time to start another.

Without looking he reached into his egg pile, his furry fingers searching for the one that would be just right to paint. All it took was a touch to know if one was too bumpy, or too course, or, Manny forbid, rotten. But what his hand brushed up against was not one of his eggs. He turned his head sharply, bringing the foreign object out of the heap. He held it up to the light.

"Wha…The bloody-?"

Then the thing started to talk.

…

The sun was slowly making its way to the horizon. It would be a beautiful sight to be sure, especially when the moon had decided to make an early departure.

"Thanks Manny," Jack said quietly.

"Wha wush dat?"

"Nothing. How's the food?"

"Ish-", Tooth paused to gulp down the last of her breakfast: pancakes drizzled with coconut syrup, eggs with rice and a cup of POG to wash it all down. "Ahem, its good! How was yours?"

"Meh, I've had better."

"Is that so?"

"No, this stuff was great. What's it called again?"

"Moco Loco."

" 'Crazy Mucus?' "

"No!" Tooth made a face. "You really know how to charm a girl. Glad I'm done eating." She looked down at her plate a little regretfully. "I still don't think we had to steal this. They were such a nice couple"

"How else could we get food?"

She thought for a second. "I could make it."

"When was the last time you cooked anything?"

"It's been a while", she said, conceding the point.

"And you'd need a kitchen."

"Well the best part about being a mystical figure is that no one would see me."

Jack shook his head and gave her a smile, which she returned. "Oh!" she said, reaching into the bag at her hip, "what are we supposed to do after every meal?"

"Eat dessert?"

"Funny. Open up Mr. Frost, we don't want those snowy whites to turn yellow." She stuck the toothbrush in his mouth, and set to work on her own teeth with her personal brush. Jack could only comply.

Down below at the resort the tiki torches were being put out one by one. Tourists gradually woke from their beds and meandered onto the balconies, eager to see the red light of dawn over the water. It was a nice little place in a cove surrounded by mountains, and it did offer a great view of the ocean, but it wasn't as great as the view from on top of a cliff. He felt sorry for Bunny, stuck on the ground with his tunnels. Flying was just too much fun.

Poof, another torch put out. Aaand anoth-

Jack blinked. He thought he saw a figure standing by one of the fire for a second. Just a trick of the light, he thought. Then he looked at their stolen torch, set up next to Tooth to keep her warm. It was about time to put that out as well.

He stopped brushing when Tooth did; any earlier and he risked a lecture. She was about to start flossing when he had a thought. "Hey," he said suddenly. "What was that problem you were talking about with Baby Tooth?"

She looked at him, surprised at the question. After a second she took a deep breath and set the floss beside her, looking down at her hands gripped together in her lap. Her wings fluttered slightly in the breeze.

Jack watched her for a moment. "Hey," he said comfortingly, "sorry I brought it up. If you don't want to talk about it-"

"One of my squads have gone missing," she started slowly. "But usually that's not much of a problem. My girls work hard, its just tat they are awfully curious. Every now and again they'll, drift off to watch a passing circus or, get distracted by a dentist convention." Jack had to chuckle at that, but when she gave him a somber look he stopped. "This time it was different though."

"What do you mean?"

"Because I was with them; the squad that disappeared. I thought they had finished up. When they're done leaving gifts they fly straight back to base, with or without me. Baby Tooth told me that they hadn't checked in, and that scares me," she covered her face with her hand, "because not a single one of the squad was there. Not one."

Jack jumped to his feet. "Then why are we here?"

Tooth looked up at him. "Jack, you don't have to worry, it's not your problem. They're strong, and they know the way home."

"No I think it _is _my problem. Those girls are my friends, and so are you Tooth. Maybe," he walked, swishing his staff back and forth, "maybe more than a friend."

She said nothing, so he took that as a sign to continue talking. "You should've said something, we could've done this some other time. Let's go back, we can talk to some of the others and bring em along!"

"And look where, Jack?"

"Wherever they were last. I don't know, but it doesn't matter." He walked over and gripped her arm. "We can find them Tooth, I know we can."

"Jack, I-"

"Tooth." He looked at her seriously. "We'll find them. "

Her face was stony. "You really think we will?"

"Yep."

"You think they're fine and that I'm worrying over nothing?"

He laughed. "You worrying over nothing is nothing new."

She looked into his eyes, searching for anything that might hint at a lie. Not finding it, she broke out into a huge smile, and buzzed her wings so fast she rose from her seat. She took his hand and pulled him in, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you Jack," she said softly.

Taken off guard, Jack awkwardly returned the hug. "No problem Toothy."

She pulled back a bit, looking at him curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said with a smile. "You just look so grown up right now."

He almost blushed at that. She noticed, and chuckled. "Look at that, Jack the rebel feeling embarrassed."

"Lay off," he grumbled, looking down.

"No." And the next thing he knew, she had lifted his chin and kissed him square on the lips.

It felt warm. He actually felt warm. For the first time since he emerged from the pond as Jack Frost, he was wasn't cold. The feeling was indescribable.

Too bad it didn't last very long.

"_My my, how romantic."_

Jack and Tooth broke away, astonished. Who was that? Could whatever it was see them? They spun around, back-to-back, looking wildly about for the source of the voice.

"_Wouldn't you say that's romantic…? What? Ha, yes, good one. Very funny, ha ha." _

"Who's there?" Jack called, staff at the ready.

"_Who's there? Who. Is. There? Well of course they don't know us, nobody knows us. But wait, everybody knows us. So why don't they? Very rude, very, very rude. We know them. Oh yes. We. Know. Them."_

Jack shot a few random bolts of ice into the surrounding rock. "Come out! Show yourself!"

"Stop it Jack, that isn't helping."

"_Smart lady! Smart then, smart now." _

"Who is it Tooth? Pitch?"

"No," she said, not taking her eyes from the semi-darkness. "It doesn't _sound _right."

" '_It doesn't _sound _right' ", _it said, mimicking Tooth's voice in a way that sounded frighteningly close to the real thing. It broke out into a fit of hysterical giggles that bounced off the rock, making it impossible to discover its location.

" 'Ha ha', yeah that's reeally funny", Jack called. "Whatever you are you're a reeal comedian."

The laughing continued, if not harder this time.

Annoyed, Jack shot off another ice bolt that hit a bush, freezing it instantaneously.

"What do you want?" Tooth called out. The laughter stopped.

Silence. Dead silence.

"_What do we want…", _it pondered. "_What dooo we want…I think, for now, we just wanted to give you a a little something." _

There it came, out of the darkness. It stood in an awkward, almost hunched way, uncomfortably close beside the still lit tiki torch. It's frame was long and slender, much taller than North. It's arms and legs were hidden behind an even longer leather coat, black as night and writhing as if alive. Darkness radiated from its body, drifting off into the air in pieces and reattaching itself somewhere else on its figure. But its body wasn't the most frightening thing about him; it was its head, or lack thereof. Sitting atop its shoulders and covering most of its neck was a large pumpkin, carved to depict a menacing face with jagged scars and swirls dotting its surface.

When it spoke, fire spat out of its eyes and jaws.

"_It's almost time, its almost time! You're the last, you're the last!", _it sang.

The duo faced the thing, ready to fight. "Well, if it isn't the Great Pumpkin!" Jack taunted.

The pumpkin's grin turned down and it tutted at them disapprovingly. "_Relax little creatures," _it said, but in a voice different from the one it was using earlier. "_We only mean to bring you something."_

Jack, remembering his encounter with Pitch in Antarctica all too well, didn't waste time talking. He jabbed his staff at the creature, sending out a bolt for a direct hit.

It never made its mark. The creature, bringing his hand level to the ice, caught it out of the air with a flick of his wrist. It opened its palm, as if offering it back to him, but even if for some bizarre reason Jack had wanted it, he wouldn't have gotten the chance. As fast as anyone could blink, the ice had melted. It trickled down the creature's glove and onto the rock. They all watched it fall, as if entranced.

The creature didn't speak. Its chest heaved in a disappointed sigh, and it looked up to face them again. Its mouth was almost completely closed now.

"_Here," _it said finally, and tossed something at them with its other arm. Tooth caught it without thinking.

It dropped its arms back to its sides and turned to face Jack.

"_It was great seeing you again, Jack."_

Jack stared at it, stunned. When it turned to walk away he called out to it.

"Who are you?! _What _are you?!"

The thing stopped. The pumpkin head spun all the way around on its neck to face him again, the wide grin present on its face once more.

"_Jaaaaaaack," _it breathed.

They looked at it, uncomprehending.

It began to laugh.

"_JAAAAAAAAAACK." _

It started to spin. Its cloak bellowed out and out, encompassing its whole figure. The tiki torch flickered until it sputtered and died, and just like the flame, the pumpkin headed creature vanished into the approaching dawn. It's voice however, sounding as though it called from a great distance, continued.

"_Jaaaack…"_

It wasn't long until the sun came up, but Tooth and Jack were left standing there for what seemed like ages. What just happened? It was Jack who decided to break the silence.

"What. Was. That." He didn't get a reply. Tooth was looking down at whatever it was the thing had thrown at them.

It was a tiny pumpkin, carved to be the spitting image of the creature's head.

And it started to talk.


	5. The Ringmaster

Chapter 4: The Ringmaster

Wherever the Guardians were throughout the world, the message was heard, and it was heard at the exact same time.

Santa and the Sandman watched in silence as Frank cradled the pumpkin in his hands.

The Easter Bunny purposefully left it at his worktable, and moved to watch from a safe distance.

Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy looked down upon it in Tooth's hands.

And with the audience gathered, the messenger began.

"_Is this on…?_

_Of course it's on you idiot. We built it!_

_No need to be snippy, that's very rude in front of our guests!_

_What guests? Oh right, the meat._

_Yes, the meat, now do shut it._

_Ahem…_

_Dear Guardians. How are you? I am fine. Thanks for asking! _

_Its 'we' are well._

_Oh right, 'we' are well. Thanks for asking!_

_Sorry, we've just been, 'alone', for so long, that we just made friends with ourselves!_

_Anyway, how are you? Good, I trust? Better now that our big, scary brother is in his hole again?"_

All at once, fear covered the faces of the listeners as if they had rehearsed it.

"_Mmm yes, big sca-a-a-ry Bogeyman, making the children not believe in you. All except one eh? All except one. But there will always be one out there, one you don't expect, one you don't count on. One to believe. _

_But we don't have one. We're only half. _

_Half me, half mad. _

_Me. _

_Me…_

_Right. We haven't introduced ourselves. Right._

_Ahem…_

_Lady and gentlemen, creatures around the world, your attention please! Allow us to call your attention to the center of the ring! We have for you the show of the ages! The highlight of hostility! The pinnacle of pandemonium! The beginning of the end of wonder itself!_

_And who will be the ringmaster of this captivating crusade? It is none other than the Lord of Trickery, the Master of Deception, the Smiling Shadow, the Forgotten Monster, the Fearful Fire, the Harbinger of Hypnosis, and the very Spirit of Halloween itself…  
_

_JACK. O. LANTERN!_

Applause blasted from the pumpkins, followed by hoots and hollers of various pitches.

A confused look crossed the Tooth Fairy's face.

In the North Pole, Santa turned to Sandy, confused for a different reason. "Have you heard of such a person?" Sandy could only shrug, clueless as anyone.

_Yes, thank you, thank you all. Haaa yes, it does feel good to finally say that. Oooh does it feel good!_

…

_Ironic though, isn't it? To have a name so commonly used throughout the world to mean, 'hollow pumpkin' or, my personal favorite, to be associated with a fungus?_

_I mean, how did the humans know I grew fungus? They're a clever lot sometimes!_

_Hooo yeah…_

…

_But nobody knows ME, do they? _

_Noooo, we're just a head for people to stick candles in. _

_There was a time when they knew me, if only for a short while. You might've heard of me to! Back then we found the practice quite flattering! Them humans would stick them outside to kind of, 'ward me off', but it never worked. Oh no, we were sneaky. So very, very sneaky. _

_And we're still very, VERY, sneaky. _

The lights in the pumpkins began to pulse, orange at first, then purple. "Back up," Santa said, reaching for his swords. Sandy's hands pulsed with yellow light as he carefully constructed his whips. "Frank, drop that pumpkin!" But the yeti didn't. In fact, he hadn't moved since he had entered. He just stood there, staring ahead.

Meanwhile, Bunny had drawn his boomerangs and had positioned himself closer to the tunnel entrance. "Off his bloody rocker", he grumbled. It was in a rabbit's nature to b e cautious, but this was different. He had a bad feeling about what was coming, and for whatever reason he doubted that his Warren Guards could help.

Still on top of the mountain, Jack turned to Tooth and concernedly said, "Tooth, I think you should drop that."

She looked at him as though he were miles away.

"Tooth," he said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

She blinked, "Oh…right. Sorry." She placed it on the ground, and they both backed up a little. Jack held his staff up in front of him at the ready.

"_Our brother had it all wrooong didn't he, when he went about with his whole "children hating" thing. It isn't all about the children, and making them forget you!_

_Heh heh heh…._

_That comes later. _

_Nooo no, its all been about YOU. _

_He couldn't win, because of YOU._

_He's now stuffed back into his hole, because of YOU._

_YOU. _

_GUARDIANS_, Lantern's voice snarled, _PROTECTORS OF THE LIGHT. _

_Well! It should only be fitting that it be because of YOU that this world falls into darkness. _

_After all, we can't do this without _you!

…

_Of course, who are we all without our own little helpers?_

_Ooooh wait wait wait…ooh would'ja look at that, we don't have many… _

_But you all do._

_You have plenty of helpers_

_Sooo…why don't you share a little?"_

Cracks appeared along the sides of the lanterns and spread with each pulse.

"Jack, I think it's a-"

"_By now you all should be thinking that my little messengers look an awful lot like little bombs."_

The voice sounded much more in control than it was a minute ago.

"…_.You would be right to think so. They are bombs…of sorts anyway…"_

"SANDY! GET THAT OUT OF HIS HAND!"

"WARREN GUARDS!"

"_But before they go, and before _we_ go, we have a little…farewell for you all._

_You, Tooth Fairy; you in particular might find this especially wonderful._

…_..._

_Go on! Say something to your mama!"_

The pumpkins let out a cacophony of tiny squeaks that burst into the air with a melancholy, desperate tone.

A hollow feeling formed in the pit of Jack's stomach.

Tooth screamed.

"NOO!"

She lunged for the pumpkin, but Jack was set in holding her back no matter how hard she tried to get to it.

"_Oooh yes haha ha! These little chickadees are about to have a…a bit of fire introduced into their lives. But don't worry! There's no point in harming them. In fact, you might say this is an improvement!"_

The squeaks changed into screams. Raspy, whispery screams.

"_Oh, and, one last thing…_

…

…

…

_Say hi to Manny for me."_

The candles flared.

The bombs exploded.

And all Hell broke loose.


	6. First Blood, Part 1

**Before you begin this next chapter** I would like to take the time to issue an apology to the reader who has managed to get this far. The title of this story is, after all, "Rise of the New Guardians: A Big Four Fanfic", and there has been a noticeable absence of three very important characters that make up 'The Big Four'. I understand you might be annoyed at this, and I am afraid I have to ask something of you. What I ask is a little bit more of your patience. I have most of the story mapped out in my head, but the speed of my writing can only be so fast. I will, however, continue to do my best with the updates, and I sincerely hope that you stick with it until the very end! And don't worry! You'll be seeing the new guardians sooner than you think.

…

Three warren guards came crashing in just as the bomb went off. The blast of air was strong enough to whisk the lighter of the trio off of its feet, and Bunny as well. That wasn't much of a problem; he was able to right himself with more than enough time to do a flip—if he had wanted—by the time he reached the ground. No, the problem was now the big smoking hole where his desk used to be. His painted eggs were fine, but he had hand carved that desk and all of his brushes from the greatest tree in his Warren! It had been with him for the past 400 years!

"Flippin' underhanded squash-head, coming into _my _home and darn near killing me! Ooh I'm going to enjoy shoving my furry foot right up his-oy!" He walked over to the fallen egg, which was kicking its feet every other way in an effort to right itself. As sturdy as they were they had a little problem when it came to falling over. Sheathing his weapons, he helped it get up.

"C'mon, oof, yer fine, yep, there we are." He was able to lift it high enough to the point where it could stand on it's own, but it did cost him a second of heavy breathing.

Slapping the guard, he walked over to the crater "Aright, let's see what we can get out of this mess." There was still a lot of smoke; more than there should have been, but he wasn't that keen on waiting.

And of course the sod that did this was called Jack. Mischief ran with that name like fleas on a…

Jack…

The others!

He stopped in his tracks halfway into the room. The other guardians would've gotten the same pumpkins. Powerful beings or not the little squash packed a wallop. Who knows what might've happened if he had been standing any closer.

Tightening his leather straps, he turned to the guards flanking him, their stony faces set to angry.

"Boys, I'm heading out. Keep this place on lockdown until I get back. I don't know how that piece of veg got in my basket, but whoever this Lantern character is doesn't know us as well as he thinks. So while I'm gone, I'll need you to start producing more egg bombs. Do _not-"_

He stopped. His ears perked up.

Spinning around, he drew his boomerangs as quick as a whip. There was something in the smoke, something…something different. But no matter where he looked there was only smoke.

A fire flickered into life to the right of one of the guards, then another, and another. Bunny jabbed at one that he thought was close enough, but it passed through as though it was nothing but the smoke around it. The guards were having as hard a time as he was; their heads could only spin to keep the m in their line of sight as they flew about the room. What on Earth were they? Whatever they were, they liked his sentinels a lot. He almost began to think they were harmless. Almost.

"We need to back out of here," he said, edging towards the exit. The eggs didn't move.

"Boys?"

The lights had settled on their heads and whispered to each other in hushed tones; tones that, he realized, were familiar. One of them let out a choked squeak.

Oh no.

Those screams from the message…Things were very wrong.

And they only got worse.

The fairies—or whatever they were now—began to dance around the eggs as though they were in a ballet. The giant eggs followed them, spinning their tops to match the movements of the fires. They spun faster, and faster; so fast that the only part of them that wasn't a blur was their feet. Bunny stood by awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Five hundred plus years of life and this was the first time he felt this way. He didn't like it; it was time to go.

He hunched low to the ground and took a few steps, ready to dash off down one of his tunnels, but, surprised, he found the one he had entered blocked by the lights. They were trying to pen him in!

His guards behind him had stopped spinning. Their angry faces were now pointed towards him. Cracks appeared over their eyes and mouths, increasing in number and length by the second, but always staying confined to their original areas. Rock began to crumble and spew from their faces, as if they were hollowing themselves out.

It turns out that was exactly what they were doing. A fire had kindled in their bellies as though it were called from the very stone they were made of. It blazed out of them like a…

"Bloody candle in a lantern", Bunny finished aloud. That tore it. He was going to punch a hole so deep into whatever monster did this it would make him look like a wishing well. He risked a quick glance behind him at the lights; they were closer now. And one of his sentinels had just taken a none-too-friendly step his way.

It was time to make a decision. The first option was he could fight his own guards and waste the precious minutes it took to get to the North Pole. He was a fighter; a damn good fighter, but it was unclear who'd win in this scenario. Whatever dark being had changed Tooth's fairies had given them a strange new power; who's to say his eggs hadn't changed to? He didn't know what he'd be up against, and he didn't like it. There were too many variables.

His second option was the most difficult of the pair: he would run. He'd not only be abandoning the very stronghold he had called home for centuries, he'd be abandoning spring itself. But he'd live to fight another day. Changed or not, he was still the fastest thing on legs. There was nothing that could outrun, outhop or outcrawl him, and he knew it. He fought with these feelings for an age.

Sensing his weakness the enemies around him grew closer, the fires that they now had in common blazing hotter than ever. Bunny stood still, rolling something around in his hand. He had palmed it earlier when the lights were distracted with his eggs. It would be now or never.

"All right my friends," he said, holding his chin up. "You be nice to the place in my absence. She's been through enough already."

A cloud of pink smoke filled the air, masking his body for all but a second. He wouldn't get away. The guardian's former followers rushed in at once…but only succeeded with running into each other. Their quarry was gone. The fairies whizzed madly about, the eggs bumbled around with faces spinning like crazy, but when the smoke cleared he was nowhere to be found.

There was nothing where he stood before, nothing but a flower.


	7. First Blood, Part 2

The ice shield, brought up with a half-second left to lose, protected them from the worst of the explosion. Much like Bunny however, it still had enough kick in it to send them flying backwards. Also much like Bunny, it really wasn't that big of a deal seeing as how they both could fly. Of course, the broken ice shards did almost impale them.

Impaled by his ice shards. What a way to go.

"You ok?" Tooth called, picking the ice out of her feathers.

"No bones broken. What about you?"

She sighed. Her wings were moving very slowly. "Teeth are still in place."

"But are you ok?" He looked at her. Tooth was strong, but she was clearly shaken.

She shook her head and looked at him. "This is nothing new Jack," she said with brutal reality. She was right. This would be the second time in under a year that her fairies had been kidnapped. Although it was the first time that they might have been tortured.

Jack slammed the butt of his staff into the ground with enough force to generate a burst of icy air. "I should have froze him when I had the chance."

"It doesn't matter Jack."

"Doesn't matter? He was three feet away from us!"

"Well what good would it have done?" she said angrily. "My fairies would've still been off in a cage somewhere!"

"We could've made him talk."

"Did you _hear_ him?" she said skeptically, "He was crazy! He was _talking _with himself!"

"I still could have tried."

"Tried? He caught your ice out of the air like a baseball! And then he melted it!"

"So what?"

"So we clearly don't know what we're dealing with. We need to go to the North Pole and-"

"And what? Let that monster get away? How can you say that Tooth, they're your own fairies!"

"I'm worried about them to Jack. More than you could know."

Jack choked on his own rising comments. Powerless. That's how he felt. He gripped the crook of his staff with both hands as though it were the only thing holding him up.

He felt a hand cover his own. When he looked up, his eyes met the sad, pink ones of Tooth. Even though she was hurting, and even though at that moment they both felt like the weakest creatures in the world, she still had the will to smile at him. She really was a brilliant woman.

"There's nothing we can do for them here Jack," she said softly. "We need to check on the others. "

It took him a long minute, but he eventually squared his shoulders. Right as always. The others would've gotten the same exploding vegetables of death that they did., and he didn't need the aurora beacon to know that. They had to leave. Now.

"Then let's get going."

She smiled at him. "Right."

He got ready to take off, until something caught his eye.

Something was moving behind Tooth.

"Tooth LOOK OU-"

Not fast enough.

Jack tried pushing her out of the way but it was no use. A long, fat, orange tongue had shot out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Tooth's left arm. That bomb had let out a lot of smoke, making it easy to conceal something, but they still should have foreseen a trick. _He _should have.

But he now knew two things about it in the short seconds it had been on Tooth's arm. Whatever the orange glob was, it wasn't attached to anything like a head.

And it burned.

Tooth screamed as smoke rose from her feathers. He wings stopped beating altogether and she dropped to the Earth, sinking to her knees.

"Tooth!"

"Help…me," came her strangled cry. The tongue constricted her arm, winding itself tighter and tighter. Bumps appeared along its surface, and gradually grew larger.

Without thinking he reached for it, looking to tear it off of her with brute force.

"Don't!"

He caught himself in time. Stupid. He'd only burn himself. The bumps along it's pale orange surface continued to grow into organic looking shapes, almost as though they were…mushrooms. A fungus. Lantern mentioned a fungus.

She wasn't being burned by fire. She was being burned by poison!

Oh no. No. Fire could be put out with water. Ice could melt into water. Ice couldn't melt into an antidote.

But there was one thing it could do.

Tooth writhed on the ground in agony, sobbing in pain. Her good hand was clutching at her throat as if she couldn't breathe. He touched her face, searching for her eyes.

"Do you trust me?" he implored.

She managed, if only for a moment, to look past the pain. Clamping down her teeth, she nodded.

Not wasting another second, Jack grabbed her arm right above where the fungus was wrapped. The feathers under his grip turned icy, and quickly froze completely solid. But it wouldn't just be the surface. He'd freeze right down to the bone. There was no telling what would happen if the poison ever got into her system, and he wasn't willing to test the limits of their immortality. Continuing down her arm, he made sure to freeze the disgusting creature…plant…whatever it was, essentially freezing Tooth's entire arm in a block of ice.

It was a gamble. If she had still been fully human her arm would have been forfeit. But the Guardians ran on magic, surely she would be all right.

Right?

Tooth had stopped struggling when the last of the ice was applied, and had curled her legs tightly to her chest. She groaned, still hurt, but the ice seemed to be doing its job. Jack set down his staff and pulled her body closer to him.

"Tooth, Tooth talk to me. Say something, anything. C'mon, Tooth, are you ok?"

She didn't say a word.

"Tooth!"

Shaking her head slightly, she finally managed a weak smile. "Teeth…in. Place…" she rasped. Expending the last of her energy, she collapsed in his arms.

Time to go.

Picking up his staff, he lifted her up as best as he could. This flight to the North Pole would be the longest and most difficult one of his life. As the wind lifted them from the ground he could only think of one thing, a single, loathing question that kept running through his mind.

Why didn't he take one of Santa's snow globes?

...

Getting to the North Pole took much longer than he thought. There was something wrong with his tunnels.

Bunny hopped out of his tunnel and into the main hall of the workshop. Expecting a mess, he got a disaster. Paper, splintered wood and broken toys were strewn all over the place. The flying toys, usually so happy to just whiz about the place without rhyme or reason, sparked and bumbled in the air like drunk houseflies. The usually busy workplace was now silent, devoid of the sounds of tinkling bells and the yetis' guttural gibberish. In fact, looking around, there didn't seem to be anyone!

At least there weren't any bodies. That was good, right?

"North!" he called, hopping quickly down the steps and next to the globe. The one comfort he had was seeing the amount of lights flickering across its surface hadn't changed. Good, he thought, the tykes are all right.

A crash sounded behind him. His ears swiveled around with his body following suit shortly after. That came from Santa's office!

"North!" he called again, bounding off in the sound's direction. As he got closer he picked up the sounds of what sounded like a fight. Brilliant, the old man was still kicking.

When he pulled up to the office he found a crowd of yeti's and elves teeming around the door. They were all looking in on some big commotion. The elves were climbing over the yetis to get a better view, while the yetis just stood there, solemnly watching. One of them turned his way. When he realized who it was, his eyes grew wide and he said something to one of his brothers. Word quickly spread that the Easter Bunny was there, and a path was soon cleared.

He walked his way through the cluster, and what he saw would go down in his memory as perhaps the oddest thing he ever witnessed. Standing in the middle of the crowd was North, the big man himself, holding a large and misshapen monster in a full nelson as the tiny Sandman smacked the ever-loving snot out of it.

"Knock him out! Shostakovich _niet_, with the sand, with the sand!"

The monster reared its head and bellowed. Its eyes were lit with the same fire as his warren guards when they changed, and its teeth had grown to monstrous proportions. The thing had massive arms that looked way too big for its body, and far tinier legs that seemed to fall under its great girth. It was furless except for the odd clumps spread around its body, and its dark grey skin was bulging with muscles. It was a wonder how the old man was holding it back at all, let alone subduing it.

Sandy punched it across the face again for good measure, shutting it up.

"Sandy!" North said impatiently.

Sandy looked at him as though waking up from a dream. He spaced out sometimes. O more like all the time, Bunny thought. The little dag made a ball of sand in his hand and threw it into the thing's face, knocking it out almost instantly. North let it go and it dropped to the floor with a _thunk. _Bunny noticed that little dream-pumpkins danced around its head.

He cleared his throat. "Well, looks like you lot are all set up here, guess you won't be needing me."

The duo twirled around, initially on edge, but then they saw who it was.

Sandy punched his fist in the air, twinkling in delight.

"Bunny!" Santa cried. A huge smile was on his face, as if he hadn't just been wrestling with a quarter-ton monster. His hair was disheveled and his prized beard was ragged, but he was still as jolly as always. He picked Bunny up with tremendous relief, kissing him on both cheeks and spitting out the subsequent fur.

"Blech. My friend! You are safe!" He set him down and clapped him on the back.

Bunny made a show of looking offended. "What do you take me for mate? Some common jackrabbit?" His grin didn't last long when he remembered why he was there in the first place. "I lost the Warren", he said, clenching his fists and hardening his face.

Santa and Sandy looked at him, speechless.

"The sentinels…they turned on me. These…_things_ turned them into walking furnaces. I think…I think they were Tooth's fairies. But they were different. They weren't fairies at all."

Santa looked at him with sad eyes. "Put him with the others", he directed the surrounding crowd. "Then get back to work. We will not lose Christmas because of this."

The yeti's moved in, picked up the creature with a surprising amount of care, and moved out. Some of the elves tried to lift it themselves, but ended up getting more in the way than anything.

Bunny was watching the receding crowd of workers when something struck him.

"This can't be everybody," he said.

Sandy shook his head, unhappy. He looked at nothing in particular, lost in thought. Santa patted him on the back.

"You are right", he said. "You see, the same thing happened here. Creatures—or should I now say, Tooth's fairies—sprung out of the pumpkin and danced about one of my yetis. He was the first to turn." He walked over to his desk and placed his hands on it for support. With his back now to his friends, he continued. "My sword passed right through them like smoke, as did Sandy's whips. We could do nothing to stop them. My yeti became one of those…_things_ you saw earlier."

"One of them?"

"When the fairies were done with him they moved to the sick bay. Some of my yetis had developed a strange illness, and they slept for long hours of the day. Looking back", he pondered, stroking his mustache, "I believe that is what marked them. Bah, it does not matter. They were next to turn. Luckily," he chuckled, turning back to Bunny, "Sandy was here to help. If not for him, I would have had to put a sword through my own workers." Sandy offered him a quick smile, acknowledging the compliment. "Good thing I wrestle with yetis for practice."

"But those things turned my guards. _Stone _guards. They don't get sick. How would they be marked, like you say?"

"Hmm. That is question. It must be new magic." He shook his head. "Dark magic."

Bunny grumbled, stamping his foot irritably. He turned his ears and looked around. "Where did those buggers go?"

"Sandy's work again," he said with a small flourish. "They burnt holes in my wood when they dropped."

Bunny grunted. Good, they were out of commission. "And where are the two lovebirds?"

"Jack and Tooth? Probably fighting off their own problems", he said grimly. "I am sure they are fine. "

It was then that an explosion rocked the building, sending everybody grasping for their weapons.

"Rrrrg what NOW?!" Santa yelled, stomping over to the door.

Sandy jumped ahead of them both and peeked cautiously around the corner, holding up his hand. He saw something. But instead of charging out whips blazing, he disintegrated them. He turned to his friends, eyes wide and pointing out towards whatever was out there. Bunny and North gave each other a quick look, and barreled out of the office with a vengeance.

There were two bodies lying on the ground next to the great globe.

It was Jack and Tooth!

They weren't moving.


	8. Something New

**A quick note about the last chapter. **I am constantly looking back and editing and the most recent change was rather important. In the last chapter it said that Bunny got to the North Pole very quickly, but that throws off the whole "Jack had a long flight ahead of him" bit. So I've changed it to, "The trip to the North Pole took much longer than it thought. There was something wrong with his tunnels." I have a reason for why his tunnels are different, and I'll be bringing it up when the moment presents itself.

…

"Are you sure this is wise?"

The shadows changed.

'I understand, bu-" He stopped himself as they changed again. This time they displayed an all too familiar creature.

He grimaced at the sight. "We do not need to do this Manny. You picked Jack out before, why not this time the Leprechaun, or Cupidae? It'd be nice to fix the whole, "Cupid is man" thing the world has got in its head." The shadows didn't change. He was being insistent.

"I don't like it my friend. I've only done it once, and I was almost eeeh… well, I was almost eaten heh heh."

The shadows disappeared. Had he persuaded the Man in the Moon? Optimistic, Santa pressed his luck. "Khorosho! I will get in touch with Miss. Valentine." Toothy would like another woman friend around when she…when she woke up.

But it was not to be. A large hunk of crystal rose from the center of the Guardian Insignia, the stone emblem in the center of the hall that had just recently been fixed to include Jack's picture. He didn't even try to conceal his groan.

He looked up at his old friend. "I hope you know what you are doing."

…

Jack awoke to a bucket of ice water thrown on his face.

"Mornin' sunshine!"

He sputtered as he threw up his hands to fend off the unseen enemy. Hitting nothing, he jolted his body into an upright position with his head swiveling wildly about.

"Where-" he started, but his head was swarmed with a million feelings at once and he was unable to finish. He was in an office of some kind. Confusion scrawled its way across his face.

"Easy mate", came the familiar Aussie drawl. "You got her here, safe and sound."

He looked at Bunny without any comprehension.

"You did it mate." He said, smiling at him.

At last, he realized where he was. What had happened to him and Tooth, the long fly over; everything. He choked. He'd known hopelessness in his centuries of solitude, but what he felt on his way to the North Pole was of a different kind. It almost broke him. Almost.

But then he remembered who he was. Jack Frost, the Guardian that had managed on his own for far longer than any of the others, never gave up. And he wouldn't start then.

That same resolve hit him now as he jumped off of the cot he had been placed on. Kicking up his staff that had been lying on the floor, he turned to face Bunny with a fire in his eyes.

"How is she?"

"Out cold…er I mean, sleeping. In North's room." Bunny scratched his neck at the unintentional pun. "But Santa's been talking with Manny. He thinks all it'll take to get her up is a little moonlight."

"But what about her arm?"

Bunny made a face. "You mean that fungus? Its still on her." When Jack frowned, he added, "but you did right with freezing it, stopped it dead in its tracks." He laughed. "Betcha Lantern didn't expect that!"

Jack wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't bring it up. "I need to see her."

"No you don't", Bunny said, holding up a paw to keep him from moving past him.

"You can't stop me from seeing her."

"Try me", he said, deadpan. He grabbed his hoodie, pulling him forcefully closer. "Like it or not Jack you're a Guardian now, and we need you to act like one. Tooth'll come through," he said, moving his paw to deliver a pat on the shoulder, "but she rattles your cage, and we don't need that. We need you need to stay calm."

"And what if I don't?" he said, trying to feign indifference.

"Then I think Manny'll have a thing or two to say about you and our next move."

He almost fought the six-foot rabbit, but what he just said had an effect. 'Their next move'?

"What's our next move?"

Bunny smiled. "Come along and you'll find out."

…

The truth was Bunny didn't have the slightest idea what their next move would be. But Jack was losing his grip, and he needed to be reminded that there were more pressing things at the moment.

He brought him to the main hall where North was standing with Sandy. Santa was dressed in his formal travel gear, a telling sign of a…potential sleigh ride. He shuddered at the thought. Neither of them was talking—though Sandy had always been a bad conversationalist—and had instead focused their attention on the Crystal between them.

Impossible, he thought. Again?

"What is that?" Jack said behind him.

Right. Frost was new.

"That's where Manny chooses the new Guardians," Bunny said without missing a stride. "Its how we found out about your big promotion." He made to continue on, but Jack caught his arm and pulled him back.

"Hey," he said, his eyebrows drawn together. "What's with you?"

"What?"

He appraised the rabbit. "You sound different. You're not nearly as hot headed as usual."

Bunny stared at him for a long while. He opened his mouth to say something, but ended up shutting it just as quickly.

He shrugged him off, then turned and started walking at a brisker pace. "Let's go meet with the others, then we can get started."

Annoying little schoolie.

"Jack," Santa said as they got closer, "Bunny, good, now I can start."

Bunny walked over and deliberately positioned himself between Santa and Jack to avoid any questions. Crossing his arms, he waited for the big man to begin. He was certainly taking his time with it.

"Alright," he said with a huff, "gentleman, what you are about to hear will be aaah bit of shock. Manny", he said, waving at the half-moon overhead, "has chosen new guardians."

Bunny smirked. "Surprise surprise." The Crystal was enough to tell everyone that. But wait…"Guardi_ans?_ As in, more than one?"

"Da."

"Why would he need to choose more than one? We just got Jack, and I still have a few good hops left in me."

"I do not know", Santa said. "But is very serious. You see", he said slowly, his hands in his coat pockets, "Manny has…asked something of me."

The three looked on, curious. After a second a question mark appeared over Sandy's head.

"Like what?" Jack said, lending the question a voice.

North pursed his lips. He brought something out of his pocket.

It was one of his snow globes.

"You know of these", he said, shaking it in his palm. "You know that with a word, this can take anyone, anywhere at all in the world." When they nodded their heads he continued. "What you don't know," he paused cryptically, tossing it into his other hand, "is that they are not limited to this world."

"So if I wanted to go to Mars…" Jack began.

Santa cut him off. "Niet, perhaps not world. A better word would be uuh," he said, snapping his fingers, "universe."

The sounds of the workshop around the band of Guardians sounded much more amplified all of a sudden. What Santa just said hung in the air between them all like an angry ghost, buzzing about their heads.

It was Bunny who broke the silence.

"Wait wait wait wait this is not on! You mean to tell us that those snow globes of yours can open up different bloody _realities?"_

North looked embarrassed. "Yes."

Bunny was shocked into silence.

Jack whistled.

Sandy, falling asleep ever so slightly, was brought back in full with this new information.

North continued, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "It was an accidental discovery. I was tinkering with them in my shop and _voakh, _new world! Ah ha…butem…Manny, you see, can see things. He is present in every one of the worlds, not just our own. Or, so he says." He scratched under his cap. "He did not say how that worked. Either way," he shook the snow globe again, "he did show me this: the new Guardians you must find are in these new worlds."

"We?" Bunny cut in. "You're not coming with us?"

"Manny chose three new Guardians, so it will only take three to get them, yes? Besides," he said, surveying the rest of the room, "I am needed here. We can't leave this place undefended now that we have lost the Tooth Palace _and _the Warren."

Bunny ignored Jack's look of shock aimed his way. "You don't know that the Tooth Palace is gone, those little tykes could still be holding out."

"Or they could be changed, just like so many of our friends," North finished morbidly, looking down at his friend. "I cannot leave this place, and with Tooth in her condition she cannot check. No amount of care or moonlight will fix her arm. But" he said, stopping what would be Jack's angry response "someone...very special, one of the new Guardians, can help her." His dark expression disappeared as he cracked a quick smile. "Relax nervous rabbit, you will do just fine." North laughed. "I feel it-"

"In ya belly, I know." Bunny finished, attempting a smile of his own.

Sandy clapped, drawing everyone's attention. He was pointing at the Crystal.

Jack looked at Santa. "So what do our soon-to-be friends look like?"

A beam of moonlight descended from the sky, lighting the Crystal up with a dazzling blue light.

"We'll show you, " North said with a smile.


	9. Snow Globes

Chapter 8 The First Step Forward

Its hide glittered in the light of the moon, and its wings were spread wide as if poised for flight. Its jaws were open, bellowing a mighty roar in its suspended animation. It's teeth and claws, though rounded ever so slightly, would still manage to deliver a powerful blow in a fight. It was a creature built for destruction. It was death incarnate.

One could hardly notice the scrawny boy on it's back when looking at this terrible beast.

Jack poked the image with the end of his staff. "What exactly is that?"

"Guardian recruit number 1" Santa replied. "He lives in the land of Berk, in a town so rough even _I_ wouldn't deliver there. Strangely, they have Christmas there like here, but they call it Snoggle…something."

"That looks like two Guardians to me. One skinny teenager and a giant salamander."

"Says the skinny teenager", Bunny called. Sandy laughed at that in his wind chime voice.

"They are one and the same. The dragon cannot fly without its rider, or the rider without its dragon."

"'Dragon'?"

"Yes, keep up Jack. Next," he said, and the Crystal changed, "we have one of the princesses."

"_One_ of the-"

"She may be the only one in _any_ world that can save Tooth from the plant."

If the images over the Crystal hadn't been holding everyone's attention before they certainly were now. The phantasm that was the dragon and boy faded to be replaced with a young woman. She was wielding a…was that a frying pan in her hand? That might've been the strangest thing about her if it wasn't for her hair. How on Earth did she manage to hold that much hair on her head?

She looked familiar somehow…

"This one is a little more well known than her fellow recruits. Her story has been told again and again over the years, but oof, who knows which one is right one anymore. You, gentleman, might know her as Rapunzel. She lives in the kingdom of Corona, and she was born with a very special gift."

One or all of their jaws may or may not have hit the floor. Or maybe it was an elf dropping something. The Guardians were mythical beings; they knew that, but this was a fairy tale they were talking about. Fairy tale beings didn't exist—at least, not to any of their knowledge. But there she was, standing frozen in time with her signature longer-than-anything hair and…frying pan. Really, what was that about?

Whether she would really be one of the next Guardians or not didn't seem to matter to Sandy; her very image seemed to captivate him. He stared long at her image with a puzzled expression on his face, as if he didn't completely understand what he was looking at. He continued to stare with the same look in his eyes even when her image was replaced with the very last recruit.

"And finally," Santa continued as she too melted away, "we have this little poludnitsa." The moonlight composed itself into the form of another young lady, fierce in bearing while looking off into the distance. Her hands held a bow with an arrow knocked to it, drawn back and ready to fly at a moment's notice. She, like Rapunzel, had exotic hair, but unlike her it was considerably shorter, and sprang out in all different directions. She looked ready for a fight.

Bunny nodded his approval. "I like this girl, she looks like she could come in handy in a scrap." He leaned down to scratch his head with his foot. "But why are they all teenagers? We aren't running a high school here."

Jack shrugged. "I kind of like it."

"I'm sure you do."

"Anyway," North said, moving it along, "like I said earlier, she is a princess—a Scottish princess of DunBroch. She has nothing special about her: no powers, no special abilities. But Manny says she has an air of…_fate_ around her; a bit of destiny that follows her. If that is good enough for Manny that is good enough for me."

"I have a question," Jack piped. "Why do they all look like they're from the middle ages?"

"Different worlds mate, remember?"

"And different times," Santa added. "Time in their worlds moves differently than time here. Once you go through the portals you may be back in a second, or an hour, or in worst case," he paused, adjusting his cap, "a year."

Jack looked incredulous. "A year? We don't have a year!"

"I know."

"Then why send us after these people? I understand why we need Rapunzel, but what is Manny thinking with the other two?"

"I wondered the same thing when you were picked," Bunny interjected. "And look how much good _you _were to have around."

"And here I was thinking I was picked for my sunny disposition."

"You know what, you can—"

"E-_nough_", Santa bellowed. He looked at them as though they were two of the bickering children on his Naughty List. "I understand how both of you must be feeling right now, but I need you to focus. Jack," he said, turning to him first, "Manny didn't _tell_ us to recruit them, he _asked _us. If you want, _you _can stay and watch the Yeti's and _I'll _go save Tooth. And Bunny. I expected little more composure from a veteran Guardian. You've been through much worse than losing your Warren, or do I have to be reminding you of the Pookas?"

Tears were on the verge of spilling from both of their eyes. They looked at Santa, furious and ashamed, and viciously scrubbed their respective faces with the back of their arms. With live devoted to bringing happiness to children, sometimes they were like children themselves. But they grudgingly recognized that the big man was right, even if they didn't like it.

And all that time Sandy just looked between the three, pained to see his friends so hurt, and him unable to say a word to comfort them.

North took a deep breath and sighed. He crossed his arms. "And to the three of you," he said in a soft voice, "I ask, would you really say no to the help? We do not know what Lantern will do next, or even what he really wants. His message, to say the least, was odd. We could use the help, no matter what anyone thinks."

They were quiet for a long time.

Santa, satisfied that there would be no more arguments, nodded his head firmly.

"Alright," he said, bringing up the snow globe again to eye level. "Who will go where?"

Bunny looked at Jack, withdrawn. "I think you should be the one to fetch Goldilocks," he said after a while.

"No", Jack said, lowering his head. "You were right Bunny, with what you said before. When it comes to Tooth my mind just doesn't…it doesn't work like it usually does. We don't need that out in the field." He leaned against his staff and rubbed his eyes. "This was so much easier when we were all just friends."

Bunny thumped his foot and smiled. "Women."

"Yup."

A tinkling sound came from beside them. Sandy was raising his hand, a serious look on his face. The sand around his head transformed into the picture of Rapunzel, exactly as he had seen her in the crystal.

Jack blinked. "You want to get her Sandy?"

The little man grinned his wide grin and nodded, confident. Santa tossed him a globe.

Bunny brought himself up. "In that case, give me the other sheila. I think I'll be able to handle her."

"Guess I get the lizard," Jack said with a shrug.

"Very good," Santa said, smiling again with the snow globes distributed.

"One more question," Jack said, shaking his snow globe. "How will they see us? I doubt any of them believe in us, wherever they are."

North gave him a surreptitious look. "A Guardian will always see another Guardian."

Jack, after a shrug, tossed the snow globe behind him. It hit the ground with a _wump, _and just like that the snow globe transformed into the gateway that would bring him to another realm. "Guess we'll go find out if that's right."

With a nod to each other, Sandy and Bunny threw their own snow globes down. Bunny looked at his portal and gulped, eyes wide. He quickly spun around to face North. "I don't suppose you know how we'll be getting back?"

Jack and Sandy stopped at the edge of their own portals. That was a good point; they'd close up behind them as soon as they went through.

"Ah, kanyeshna!" Santa said, shaking his head and reaching into his jacket. "Foolish of me, very foolish. One more for the way home!" He tossed them each another globe.

Jack caught his and stuffed it in his hoodie. With everything settled, he turned to the other two Guardians. "Good luck you guys," he said with a grin. "And Bunny, try not to scare the princess too badly." He disappeared into the portal, closing it off before Bunny had the chance to fire off a comeback.

Bunny grimaced. "Showpony", he grumbled.

Sandy was the next one to go. He eyed the globe he caught and shook it, watching the snow swirl around in it. He gave Santa a look and grinned, nodding his head. Santa put a hand on his hip and gave him the thumbs up sign. Sandy turned to Bunny to repeat the gesture, and with a floating, dream-like step, he too disappeared into the swirling vortex.

Which left Bunny to be the last one there. He stood for a minute, looking into the shifting colors with his ears straight up. "I don't uh, suppose I could take my tunnels there, could I?" Even though he felt his tunnels had changed somehow, he still felt like they were a much better alternative to stepping into a dodgy looking portal.

"Well, I guess you could always take my sleigh" he replied, one eyebrow up.

"Didn't think so." Bunny gulped. "Alrighty then, no choice I guess. I'll be seeing you soon. You hold down the fort, and uh…you look after yaself. And Tooth."

"You to. Now get going!"

"Here goes nothing," with a leap Bunny jumped head first through the portal, and into DunBroch. The Guardians had taken their first step towards a counterattack against Lantern.

Santa watched the space where the portals had been for a minute after they'd gone. He took a deep breath and surveyed his workplace, taking in what was left of the busy yetis and elves.

It was time to get to work.


	10. Announcement (not a chapter)

Just so I'm not leaving you guys hanging, I just wanted to let you know that my ability to write and submit chapters has been substantially reduced. Up until this point I was dishing out one to two a day, but now that I'm back at school it is going to be much more difficult to do so. At this point I'll only really be able to work on the weekends or, if I'm lucky, Thursdays-Sundays (but that'll only be 1-2 chapters per week.) Still, I haven't forgotten that some of you enjoy the story, and I promise to keep at it for as long as I can.

Best wishes,

WelcomeToColumbia


	11. Welcome to Berk

"_When the Darkness clicks and clacks_

_with claws and teeth that bite and hack_

_you'll see the Frightening, you'll see the Wrack_

_that beckons Hallows Eve. _

_One is Black and one is Red,_

_One who whispers secret dread,_

_One with body but no head, _

_who come on Hallows Eve."_

No response.

"_Do not tremble, do not fear,_

_do not lend the lightless cheer, _

_for we shall have our Guardians dear,_

_on dreadful Hallows Eve._

_And those who dwell in darkness play,_

_with those they find misguided prey,_

_but know the candle fears the day,"_

Lantern paused, turning to his captive, "_that follows Hallows Eve." _There was a slight rattling of the chains, but nothing more.

"_Oh don't be like that_", he tutted, "_it's a wonderful little rhyme! You must have heard it at some point." _He broke off into a fit of giggles. _"The humans did get the colors wrong though, didn't they? we're not red at all! Well, maybe we are. Never liked red. Think they only used it because it rhymes with 'dread'? Or maybe 'dead'? It doesn't matter I guess. We love it so, don't we? Don't you? You should. You're in it to. Red and Black, that's us; together forever_. "

Ah, he was looking at him now. That's good; they thought he had fallen asleep. Then whom would they talk to? One of the wisps? Or the bombs? Dreadful conservationists, the lot of them.

"_Nothing to say? Nothing to declare? All you do is hang and stare." _He patted him on the cheek. "_Fine then. We have much to do and little time before the Guardians return. By your leave, Mr. Black. Don't let those chains chafe too badly." _He turned to walk away.

"You know", Pitch called out, causing Lantern to spin around with a grin on his orange face, "chained here as I may be, powerless, weak, and desperately wishing I could claw my ears out rather than listen to another second of your babble, you, little man, forget one thing."

Lantern's head tilted in childlike curiosity. "_Oh? And what would that be?"_

Pitch's scraggle-tooth smile opened wide in the darkness.

"I know what you're afraid of."

…

Wherever Jack had gone it was very high up, and it was almost sunrise.

A wide island spread out all around him as he gazed down from the top of the mountain. Ice, rock, and tall trees lay in every direction, with the ocean crashing against jagged rock. In the distance he could see torchlight flickering across the waves, emanating from the mouths of giant Viking warriors.

He did a double take. Vikings…_this _should be good. At least he didn't have to worry about any spears thrown his way. Invisibility had its perks.

Jack dropped off the mountaintop, and swooped down low to get a better look at the giant statues. He laughed at their expressions despite his serious mission, while marveling at their gargantuan size. He pitied the guy who had the job of lighting them every night. Behind them he was able to make out a primitive looking village, lit with torches and patrolled by angry looking Norsemen. Looks like that would be where he'd find what's-his-face. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't actually gotten the name of the new recruit from North. Guess it was because the big man just didn't know it, what with this being a new world and all.

Flying over, he dropped onto the highest looking building he could find. It would be dawn soon, and the village was already stirring. Pointy helmets and armor were emerging from various building in twos and threes, and the grunts and calls of everyone's morning greetings rumbled through the streets. How was he supposed to find lizard boy in all of this?

A deep, rumbling yawn came from underneath him. Peering over the edge of the rooftop, Jack discovered that he wasn't standing on a building at all. It was more of a rookery, only it didn't house any kind of bird; it housed lizards. Dragons, to be exact; big, spikey, fire breathing dragons, and they were beginning to wake up.

One very large, very mean looking red one with a large snout and a snake-like neck was shaking its head and stretching. Its eyelids slowly opened to reveal big yellow eyes, still drowsy in the face of the half-light. Invisible or not, Jack decided it was time to move locations.

The dragon's head turned his way just as he dropped. It blinked, seeming to watch him as he flew away. An audible growl escaped its jaws.

…

Jack had been scanning the village for several hours from up in his hiding place. The surrounding cliffs offered many crooks and crevices, and he didn't have any difficulty concealing himself. After the dragon spotting him that morning he wasn't as confident in his inconspicuousness as he had been before.

He sighed, shaking his head as he drew yet another ice figure on the rocky wall. This was torture. How many horned heads had he seen? How many dragons? None of the things walking or flying below looked even remotely close to the agile beast he had seen in the Crystal, or the skinny boy with his missing foot. Really, how hard was it to find a couple characters that looked like _that?_

Scanning the streets for the umpteenth time, something finally caught his eye. It was a large man; impossibly large, and way bigger than North. Muscles bulged from under dragon skin armor, and a thick red beard sprouted down and below his barrel of a chest. The people around him, though they smiled and waved as he passed, seemed to be making a path for him to more easily navigate through the crowd.

Jack knew a leader when he saw one. He tracked him for a while, watching as the big man made his way up the market and towards a hut close to the woods. But before he got a chance to open the door, a big, black shape barreled out of it and knocked him down. His shout of surprise could be heard even at Jack's distance. The black creature had the man in a strong grip as it licked his face, and it spread its wings halfway in delight. Jack looked more closely now; he knew those wings.

A boy about his age came running awkwardly out of the hut, and pulled at the dragon's neck to urge him off. It willingly obeyed, and circled around to place itself between the boy and the now annoyed giant who was rising from the ground.

Checking his surroundings, Jack vaulted from his crevice and carefully made his way to a roof overlooking the debacle. The giant had a stern look on his face.

"What have I told you about keeping the beast outside?"

"It not like I can do anything about it Dad, he keeps breaking the windows!"

Jack almost laughed. _Dad? _The giant could've crushed the boy with his pinkie. But then Jack looked closer at the boy, and how the dragon pressed its side to his back. The dragon was the spitting image of what the Crystal had shown him, and the two were were obviously close. Jack's gaze traveled to the boy's leg.

One of his feet was metal.

He smiled. "Gotcha".


	12. The Bright Night

A light floated above the treetops, suspended in mid-air for a moment before the wind carried it higher. It was followed soon after by it's brothers and sisters, and though they were hesitant to pursue, the breeze carried them up en masse nonetheless. It wasn't long before the Moon was almost completely blocked out.

Rapunzel shivered and pulled her knees closer to her chest. Weird, she thought, looking out the window. It was a cold night for this time of year. She might need to go fetch a coat or something. But no, it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth missing a single second of this moment. She needed to see this, even if she had to bear the cold alone.

A squeak came from her shoulder.

Well, not entirely alone.

"Shush Pascal," she whispered without looking away from the dancing lights. "It's just a little wind, you'll get used to it." The little chameleon butted his head against her neck in disagreement. When she didn't react he did it again. And again. And again. She shrugged her shoulder, dislodging him from his spot and nearly sending him on a short free fall to the ground. He grumbled in indignation.

Rapunzel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll close the window in a bit, just…just give me a minute." She sighed. The lanterns were beginning to disappear into the sky, and their seemingly endless numbers were beginning to wane. She leaned back against the wooden frame.

"Happy birthday to me", she whispered. Another year gone by, and she hadn't even set foot outside of her tower. But…Mother knows what she's doing, she thought. It wasn't safe for her out there. She couldn't leave; not yet anyway. Maybe she'd be able to in a year when she turned eighteen. She'd practically be an adult by then!

Pascal looked up at her with concerned eyes as she slowly closed the window. A final lantern lingered above the trees, caught without a wind to take it anywhere. She watched it for a moment before turning around. Pascal nudged her neck again, albeit more gently than the first few times. She looked down at him with a sad smile, and patted his head gratefully.

"Thanks Pascal. You're like a little lantern yourself." He gave her a quizzical look at that. She smiled again, much less sad this time, and stretched her arms. Gathering up her voluminous hair, she started walking towards the steps. It was time for bed.

Suddenly, Pascal squeaked in alarm. Something had caught his attention. He tugged at a strand of her hair to get her attention.

"What?" she said without turning around. Pascal pointed back towards the window and made urgent jerking motions with his head. She looked back at her spot on the windowsill. Nothing. No monsters, bandits, or men with pointy teeth, and nothing outside of the window but the trees, stars and…

The last lantern. And it was getting very close, very fast.

Her eyes widened in surprise. That wasn't a lantern. It had no definite shape, and swirled and danced in the night sky around it. What was it? It took Rapunzel a moment before she snapped into action. Whatever it was it was heading her way, and she needed to do something; she needed to hide. She ran towards the kitchen, nearly tripping over her hair in her haste, and grabbed the nearest handle in sight before looking for a hiding spot. She lifted the object in a defensive gesture as she ducked behind a large beam.

"Okay, okay, big golden light flying right towards me. But that's okay, because I have a-", she lifted her object up to her face, "a frying pan…yyyeeeeah…this'll work. Oh! My hair!" Rapunzel grabbed at it all, desperately trying to drag all of it behind the beam with her.

A creaking came from behind her. Something was opening up the window.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no.

Chiming sounds came from behind her, softer than anything she'd heard before. A footstep was barely audible, and for all she knew it wasn't a footstep at all. In fact, there might not have been _anything _behind her. Whatever was in the sky might've passed her by. She took a deep breath, and with a resolved look at Pascal she risked a look at the room.

Nothing.

It was empty!

Her eyes darted around the room but couldn't find anything. The window was open but the wind could've been the culprit behind that. She was still completely and utterly alone—with the exception of Pascal of course. She let her breath out, surprised that she had been holding it, and walked to the window. She peeked out but didn't see anything other than the potted plants on the sill. Shutting the window with relief, she looked at her friend triumphantly.

"Too smart to mess with us, eh Pas?" The little chameleon reflected her smile and stuck his tongue out at the window.

"Ha yeah." Rapunzel looked out the window again. "Still, enough excitement for one night. Let's go to sleep." Rubbing her eyes, she turned once again to head upstairs—only to run into something behind her and immediately fall over.

The frying pan almost fell from her hands. Pascal couldn't hang on and fell as she became tangled in her hair. Great, more brushing to do in the morning.

But wait a minute…what was that? What did she just trip over?

She pushed herself into a sitting position to find a lump sitting underneath the hair that now spread in all directions. It was short, plump, and it was moving. Not good not good not good.

Without thinking she got up and swung the frying pan at it, connecting the heavy to the lump with a dull _thump._ The thing immediately collapsed to the ground, but she held the frying pan out at the ready just in case. Grabbing her hair with her other arm she dragged it away from the thing in an attempt to reveal what it was and get away from it at the same time.

It was a…blob. It looked like a blob of sand. It had legs so it could've been a man, but it was laying face first so it was kind of hard to tell. Pascal, now on the floor, cautiously made his way towards it, intent on giving it a vicious poke. When the creature moved he practically leapt back a few feet.

The brute lifted its spikey head and shook it, sending particles of glimmering sand out in all directions. Gasping in surprise, Rapunzel swung at it again.

It missed. The monster had jumped into the air in a weightless fashion, surprise in its eyes. When Rapunzel hit it for a second time it went spinning head over heels into a nearby beam, which it promptly hid behind after bouncing off of it.

Rapunzel took the chance to hide behind her own beam. She clutched the frying pan to her chest in a bone-white grip. "Wha-", she started, gulping down the quiver in her voice, "what…what do you want?" No response: nothing but a twinkling sound. "Are you here for my hair? Well you cant…you can't have it! There's…there are guards! Outside! They'll come if I scream!" She blinked rapidly. Yeah, that might make whatever it was think twice. She looked out at it. It was till hiding behind the beam, but peeked out with a wide-eyed expression.

She looked at it;_ really _looked at it this time. It was incredibly short, and every part of its body emitted a soft golden hue. Its clothes, she found, weren't actually clothes at all, but a sort of robe made of sand that wrapped itself around him to fit his form. It definitely looked like a little man, but he wasn't like any man she'd ever seen. But…then again she'd never actually seen a man. Not in person anyway. Did all men look like this? He wasn't anything like Mother had described.

He tentatively moved more of his body out from behind his hiding place, hands up. His eyes, as golden as his body, were half closed, and his face was set in an urgent, calming expression. Eventually, after she made no move towards him or back behind her post, the man moved completely out from behind his cover. When he smiled, a small jangling sound could be heard.

So that's where it was coming from. The man stopped in the middle of the room about a meter away from where she hid, a tad warily. Good, she thought, if he gets any closer I'm going to whack him again!

The man looked troubled. He started looking around, rubbing his fingers together in thought. Suddenly, he looked up at her with his mouth formed in an "o" and a finger pointing to the sky. Rapunzel moved a little closer to the beam.

The man's hands began to glow. Strands of golden light began to spring out from his open palms, and danced about the room as though they were alive. The strands eventually began to mold themselves into different forms: a school of fish that flashed around the room, a blooming rose that had an endless stream of petals, a horse that galloped and twisted in midair. Wide eyed, she couldn't help but become transfixed. She would've stood there all night if Pascal hadn't brought her back to reality.

The little chameleon had started growling from behind a table leg. He didn't trust the man or his fancy light show.

Rapunzel slid back behind her beam and set herself on looking for an exit. If Pascal didn't trust the man then neither would she, even if he did have amazing powers that could light up the room and turn sand into creatures. There was nothing for her to hide behind on the ground. She supposed that she could vault herself up into the rafters using her hair, but the little man was capable of flying. She wouldn't get far, and it was a small tower; one she couldn't leave. And, if she was being completely honest wither herself, what the man did with the sand had intrigued her.

She let the frying pan fall to her side. Only one option left.

Taking a deep breath, Rapunzel stepped out from behind the support. She tried to look fierce but only succeeded in looking confused, if not worried. Still, she lifted her chin and looked at him.

"Who…are you?" she said.

Happy and with a wide smile on his face, the man closed his hands, extinguishing the figures around him. He slowly sat down on the stone floor, and when he had gotten settled he looked at her again. He patted a spot in front of him and nodded encouragingly.

Rapunzel shifted the grip on her handle and gulped.

"Stay where you are," she said, hesitantly making her way forward. "I don't…you don't want me to call the guards."

The man only smiled, and waited for her to join him.


	13. The Games of Fate

Chapter 11 The Game of Fate

_Thunk._

_Thunk. _

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. _

"Well I'll be…"

The girl was a better shot than he expected. But then again, she'd have to be pretty extraordinary to be a part of the Guardians. Still, Bunny didn't think that she was half as special as the other two recruits. How could a girl with frazzled red hair compete with a dragon and bloody Rapunzel? Well, he thought, she is riding on a horse through the forest. Guess that counts for something.

The girl let out a triumphant shout as the last arrow made its mark, splitting the arrow that was there before—which, not so coincidentally, had been in the bull's-eye. Bunny raced along beside the horse, easily matching its pace. He had to find a good moment to step out and confront her, and he had to do it sometime soon. Normal or not, the sooner he talked with her the sooner they could get back.

He was about to make his move when the arrow almost hit his head.

"Holy sh-"

_Thunk. _Another one whizzed over his back. Then another one grazed his cheek. She was probing him! With each arrow she was getting closer to hitting her mark. He zipped on ahead, sticking behind the tree cover as much as he could, but that didn't seem to help. Yet another arrow flew past as the girl followed his trail through the underbrush. He stopped in his tracks, ducking low beneath a bush to present as small a target as possible.

He shook his head. The girl wasn't making this any easier.

The horse pulled up a little bit away from his hiding spot. She was scanning the area, arrow knocked to the bow and loosely fitted to the string. "Eeeasy Angus", she whispered to the horse as she dropped from the saddle. Her eyes passed over his hiding spot for a moment and she moved on, taking a few steps further up the path. Bunny shook his head, almost breathing a sigh of relief. Either way it would've been premature.

The girl whipped her head around, brought her arrow up to eye level and let it fly right at him. It flew through the air with almost superhuman speed—super_human. _It didn't move nearly as fast as a bunny. With a jerk he moved his head to the side, ensuring that the arrowhead would bury itself into the soft earth rather than the soft fur between his ears. It would've been a nice shot. "Would have".

She stood on the path for another moment, listening. The forest was silent around them besides the odd birdcall and animal sound. The horse stamped impatiently, shaking its mane to and fro. Suddenly the girl's lips turned up in a confident smile. "Yeah, ah think we got 'em". She lowered her bow and walked over to her trusty steed, grabbing the reigns and moving towards Bunny's spot. "C'mon, you'll have ta carry it. Let's go…how big do ya think it is? Enough ta feed tha wee devils? And did ya see how _fast _it was going? Ah've never seen a deer move like tha'!"

Bunny grimaced. It was nearly impossible to make out what she was saying with that accent. "Bah," he mumbled. Time to get on with it. He called out, "could you stop throwing arrows at me!"

She (and the horse) jumped back in surprise, and she brought her empty bow up in defense. "Wha-"

"Honestly," he said, slowly rising out of the dirt. "You could poke a bloke's eye out with one of those."

Great, now she was bringing her arrows up again. He crossed his arms. This was going to be difficult.

"Wha…what…how? Who…yer no dee…yer talking!"

"Mhm. Good, two fa two."

"Are…are you some kind of…"

Bunny spread his arms, waiting.

"Some kind of…strange bear?"

Bunny froze. "Ya must be…" Really? A kangaroo and now this? Out of all the… a bear? Thank Manny that Jack wasn't here. He leaned in closer to the girl, who gripped her bow in response. "I…am…a…_bunny",_ he said, pointing to the ears. "Did the ears not give it away? What about the nose, huh? Anything?"

They stood there for a moment, staring each other down…until she started laughing.

Bunny, not expecting that exact reaction, could only blink.

"Re…_Really?" _ She managed between snorts. "A..a bunny! I'd stick with a bear, or even a _deer_!" She clutched her sides. "At least a deer could run ya through with its _antlers!"_

"Yeeeaaaah hi-larious", he grumbled, stamping one foot impatiently. "Ya know what else is funny? The way ya missed target numbah three around the bend there."

That got her to stop. "Angus buckled!" she said indignantly.

"Oh no need to get feisty", he said with a grin, "there's always room to get better. After all, who ever heard of a _girl_ archer?"

Strewth, her expression was thunderous! As quick as one of her bolts she had knocked an arrow menacingly to her bow with her fingers ready to draw.

"Say tha' again." She dared. "An' maybe in a manner of speaking tha' isn't like a rusty spoon scrapin' a bed of rocks."

_You're one to talk, _he thought privately, but bit his lip.

"An' whit's a…_thing_ like you doin' here anyway?" She moved the knocked arrow up to his nose. "Ah don' much take ta stalkers."

"Ha!" He pushed it out of his face. "Sorry mate, my type is a bit more bushy tailed."

She crossed her arms, waiting.

"Alright," he grumbled, scratching his head with a foot. Somehow this girl reminded him of Frost. "I'm here," he sighed,"because…we—I mean, my mates and I—need ya help."

"Then go ask ma da."

"No, I mean, we need _your_ help."

She snorted. "Ah don' even know you!"

"Well how do you think I feel? Getting sent to some bloody world to fetch some bloody girl who can only shoot a bloody stick with a point."

"Oooh mah hand is gettin' really twitchy, 'bunny man'", she warned, making a show of drawing her arrow back for the hundredth time. "Keep yer gob movin' an ya just might find one of them points stickin' out the back of yer throat."

"Alright, alright," he said, putting his hands up grudgingly. "We're both a bit testy here. Let's start again." He put his paw out for a shake. "Bunnymund," he said with an eyebrow raised, "the Easter Bunny."

She huffed, thinking. Her opinion of him in the short time they had been talking was clearly one of disdain. Still, she finally managed to put the arrow back in its quiver, though she still held onto the bow.

"Merida", she said, not taking his offered paw. "Princess Merida."

He clenched his paw, dropping it. Fine, let the brat be difficult. He'd push her back through the portal himself if he had to, or even go so far as to leave her. Manny and North be damned.

"Ok then, Merida," he said, "Would ya listen to what I have to say?"

Merida thought for a moment. "Nah, I don' really feel like it," she said before swinging herself up on her horse. "Yer a lousy charmer, ya know tha'?" She pulled the reins, moving Angus to face away from him.

"People will die!" he said, running to her side. "Including one of my friends! Are you really going to turn me down just because of a few words?"

"Yeah. Ah've had mah own share of problems, an' I don' need any more."

"Errrgh," he clenched, "please! I don't know exactly what makes ya so special, but my friends and I need ys, and I can't go back without ya."

"Get better at yer manners and ah may consider it." The horse picked up a bit of speed, forcing him to move along quicker.

"Well…what can I do to convince ya? Is there anything, anything at all?"

That earned him a look, but didn't cause her to slow down. She pulled out an arrow from the quiver and looked at it speculatively. He ran along beside her in silence, not so patiently waiting for an answer.

"Alright", she said at last.

"Alright?"

"Yeah. There's a way." She glanced at him, grinning. "Tell me, Bunny Man, do ya like games?"


	14. Complications

Chapter 12: Complications

Toothless groaned his indignation from outside of the forge. He yanked at the chain around his throat; half-heartedly trying to break through it at any moment. Hiccup didn't pay him much attention.

"Ah, nooo, no. "You're staying put mister, at least until I finish OUCH…gah, might as well board up our windows and save the metal." Hiccup's father wasn't happy with Toothless' continuous window breaking, so he did what any scary, grunkle-voiced seven-foot-and-half-a-ton father would do to his son's pet: he chained him up in the square using one of the thickest chains he could find. And Toothless, having wrestled with Olaf numerous times, didn't want to try his luck in escaping when the giant was in a bad mood. Still, his dad hadn't been above making a deal with his son, and had promised that the chain would be removed when the windows were fixed. Permanently. So, he went to the shop, and there he stayed for the past couple of days.

It helped that he knew exactly what he was doing; he wasn't just creating bars to be placed across the windows, as a dragon could rip those off with barely a flick of its maw. No, he was creating a metal frame that would mold into the wood around it. The bars he had just finished making were studded with spikes to prevent said bar ripping, and while they weren't completely Toothless-proof, it'd be better than the glass they had now.

He stepped back to admire his work. He wouldn't admit it, but sometimes it paid to be a genius inventor…OK he'd totally admit it, but he wouldn't brag about it.

Well…

Another strangled, dying cry from outside. People were starting to stuff their helmets with hay. Wimp.

"Yeah yeah quiet down, I'm almost done." The only thing he had to finish were the angled wood screws, and that wouldn't take him more than fifteen minutes. He did it in twelve, but that's not important.

After loading frames and parts into a wagon he stepped out into the square. It was a sunny day; one of those rare ones that pop up every now and again over winter. Shielding his eyes, he walked over to Toothless before heading up to his house.

He scratched his chin, causing the bored dragon to let out a happy grumble. "Hey bud, how're you holding up?" Toothless huffed in response and tugged at his chain for emphasis. "Awww poor baby! Well, you'll be happy to know that your imprisonment from the scary, 400 pound meat-mountain is almost over. I'm up to put these i—noooooooo NO get away from there!"

The dragon had moved over to the wagon and was snuffling through the materials, being none too gentle with whatever he found. He had picked up one of Hiccup's patented anti-dragon bars and was gnawing on it, grinding the points down. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Of course.

"Drop it! Drop tha- aaah geez…would you just…you're going to be in that chain much longer if you don't—"

Suddenly, a massive hand came down and yanked the bar from the dragon's mouth, the owner completely disregarding the spikes studded along it sides. A stone mallet came down on the dragon's head with a _thunk _when Toothless wrestled to get it back.

"LISTEN TO THE BOY ya daft lizard," Gobber said with grimace. "I swear yer the only bloody dragon in Berk with an authority complex."

"Hey Gobber, yeah, thank you for hitting my dragon. That was really something."

Gobber looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a half-smile forming. "Course yer not much different from yer wife here, are ya?"

"Ha ha, really fu-wait how come _I'm _the wife?" Call him crazy, but he was fairly sure that Toothless was giving him a smug little grin.

Gobber barked out a short laugh. "Well it can't have anything to do with yer mus-cu-lar physique or squeaky voice that makes all the village girls swoon, nah it's gotta be something else."

"Since whattayou know about girls Mr. 'Trolls-ate-my-"

"Speakin' of girls, isn't yers waitin' for ya?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Please, you two are like the dragons in heat, ready to-"

"Ooooooh-kay I got stuff I gotta take care of," he grabbed a hold of the cart, "so yeah, I'm just…gonna go now, but hey, we should do this again sometime."

"Aht no, yer done fer the day", Gobber said, stopping the cart with his good hand.

"What?"

"You heard me, I'm taking it from here."

"But-"

"Shush. And uh," he said, leaning in conspiratorially while fishing around in his coat, "Ya didn't get this from me."

He placed a heavy metal object into Hiccup's palm; it was the key to Toothless' chain.

"How did you…? Did you-"

"Yer father still thinks he can beat me at Blind Man's Brew."

"You drank him under the table?"

"You bet yer dragon's scaly rear I did."

Hiccup laughed. "I owe you one."

"Glad you mentioned tha', you can start by covering my shift tomorrow."

Hiccup groaned but nodded. An extra day in the shop was fair enough. He knelt down and unlocked the chain, and was nearly run over by a very excited Toothless. Eventually he extracted himself from the Dragon's legs to climb onto his back, clicking his metal foot into the saddle that he hadn't bothered to take off. Maybe it kept Toothless hopeful for a fly around the island but whatever the reason, the dragon seemed to like on.

"You ready bud?"

Toothless shook his shoulders; his wings already up and out.

Gobber shook his head and began to speak, "Tell the lassie I sai-", but whatever he was going to say was drowned out by the roar and thrash of wings from what must have been the most eager dragon in Berk. Hiccup barely had time to wave before Toothless leapt into the air.

And from a nook nestled along one of the crags, a boy in a blue sweater took off after them.

…

"Hey you got Toothless out!" Astrid exclaimed when they landed. She patted the dragon's flank before embracing Hiccup with what might as well have been a bear hug strong enough to bend steel.

"Ooof…As…Astrid."

"Oh right right, sorry. You're such a twig."

"_Huh..haaugh. _I like…to think… I pull it off."

"Mhm. I'm sure."

"Did you bring the food?"

"Yep. Yak flank for me, sheep gut for you, and two baskets of fish for Stormfly and Tooth-", turning, she saw that the dragons had already begun to help themselves, "ah, maybe half a basket each. Hmm. Bet you we could still finish before them!" Hiccup didn't doubt her resolve for a second. She grabbed his wrist and yanked him over to the set she already had laid out. They put up a valiant effort, but the dragons inevitably won out.

"Brrrrraaap." Astrid laughed. "Beat that!"

"Alright alright give me a sec." Hiccup pounded his chest. "Brrrrp-brp."

"Psh, what was that?"

"Oh like you're so special?"

Astrid let out a burp even louder than before. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Well did her highness realize the amount of food smeared around her face could feed a family of three?"

She took one of the food bits he was referring to and popped it into her mouth. "Nah, a family of two maybe, no wait, no one" she ate another piece, "I never did like sharing."

Hiccup smiled and leaned against Toothless' side, letting the dragon's heat soak through his coat. The happy lizard was snuggled up close to Stormly with both of them snoring peacefully in their content food comas.

Astrid sat down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder. They didn't say anything for a while, content to watch the sun slowly set over the water.

"What do you think is out there?" Astrid said.

"Water, probably. And some rocks."

She nudged him. "I'm serious. Have you ever thought about just saddling up Toothless and flying away? You know, to see what's beyond Berk?"

"Well yeah, I've thought about it," Hiccup scratched his chin, "I've thought about it a bunch. It's just…well my life is here— on tough, tasteless Berk. Whatever's out there can't be too important."

Astrid yawned. "You need to be a bit more adventurous. Think about it! With the dragons on our side now things will get so boring around here. I think there's a ton of stuff to find and fight away from here, and the first chance I get I'm going to take Fly and set out for a month or two." She grinned. "Maybe I'll bring you back a souvenir, like a skinned hide or something."

Putting that lovely image aside, Hiccup glanced at her. "What's keeping you?"

She leaned up for a second and punched his arm.

"Aaagh", Hiccup flinched.

"Somebody's gotta take care of you and your thick head."

"Maybe you should go anyway and save me a few beatings."

Astrid yawned again. "You could use a few more beatings", she mumbled.

"Hmm." Hiccup looked up at the ocean again. The water danced with the orange glow of the sun as it crashed against the rocks in a brilliant display. Some of the townsfolk were making their way out to light the stone Vikings. Peace with the dragons or not, some habits died hard.

"Maybe," he said slowly. "We could do it. We wouldn't be gone long either, huh Astrid?" No response. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder and was snoring softly. It always surprised Hiccup when she let her guard down like this; sometimes he doubted she even had a feminine side (a theory supported by the increasing intensity of her snores.) He brushed a piece of her hair back and nestled his head against hers. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes. They could talk later.

"She's right you know," came a voice.

Hiccup shot up.

"There's a bunch of stuff out there, and you wanna stick around here with all these grumpy old Vikings? Well," the voice paused for a second, "I guess she is pretty cute huh?"

Hiccup gently extracted himself from Astrid and got up. He knew every voice on Berk and this wasn't one of them. He put one hand on Toothless in case he needed to wake him up. "Who's there?"

There was a _whap _sound before the reply. "Jack."

"Jack who?"

"Nope, Jack Frost." _Whap._

"Umm where are-"

_Whap. Whap. _"Over here."

Hiccup peered over Toothless' belly only to duck back down to avoid the rock that came flying over his head.

"Ha, whoops! Nice moves kid."

Hiccup looked over again (albeit a bit more tentatively than before.) He blinked in surprise when he saw the voice's source. Standing there, hitting rocks into the air with the end of a crooked staff was a boy the same age as him, only wearing the weirdest assortment of clothes he'd ever seen, and he lived with Vikings. The boy, seeming to grow bored with hitting rocks across the cliff, walked over and prodded the snout of Hiccup's dragon.

"This is one big lizard."

"Hey! Stop that!" Hiccup said indignantly, climbing over Toothless to push him away.

"Heh heh easy kid, no harm done!"

"The name is Hiccup."

"Youch, what did your parents have against you? I think I'll stick with kid."

Hiccup shook his head. Who was this guy?

"Besides," the boy said as he sauntered around to kneel in front of Toothless' head, "when you've been around as long as me, most people are kind of like kids. But if you want I could call you sport, or twiggy. I kind of like twiggy."

"You were dropped on your head as a kid, huh?"

The boy laughed. "Burn. Not bad twiggy."

"Ok", Hiccup said impatiently, holding up his hands, "who are you? Where did you come from? I don't see your dragon, what did you just fly up out of the sea or something?"

"The sky actually. And I told you," the boy poked Toothless again, "my name's Jack Frost."

Hiccup walked over and kicked the staff away. "If you keep doing that you're going to lose the end of your stick."

"Is that a euphemism?"

"A what?"

"Nevermind" Jack said, settling on a boulder nearby with his staff planted in the ground, "Belch, was it?"

"Judging by the size of your ears you'd think you'd be able to hear better."

"I need your help."

Hiccup blinked, and shot Jack a skeptical look that crossed between something like, _you-cant-be-serious _and _my-gods-you're-mental. _ "You wanna run that by me again?"

"Didn't you just say something about my hearing a second ago?"

"You almost hit my head with a rock and prod my dragon, and then you just ask me for help?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm a complicated individual."

"You mispronounced 'crazy' somewhere in there."

"I've been called worse."

"What makes you think I'd help you after this delightful little exchange we've been having?"

"Well that's my job," Jack said, "I'm supposed to convince you."

Hiccup laughed. "You've been doing a bad job so far."

Jack smiled. "Then what if I can change your mind? Or at least catch your attention?"

"I'd like to see you try," Hiccup said with a cynical smile. He slowly turned and walked a few feet away, careful on the rocks. "Actually you know what, I don't want to see you try. I kind of just want you to go. And if you aren't gone by the time I turn around I'm going to wake my buddy here" he said, gesturing to Toothless, "and chase you o-". He stopped. Hiccup's eyes widened as he looked back at where Jack had been sitting. The boulder was empty, and not a sound or misplaced pebble indicated that he had even been there at all. It was like the boy he had been talking to hadn't even existed.

Then a snowball pelted him from above.

"Up here Gurgle," came Jack's voice, followed by a whistle.

Hiccup stared, mouth agape. Jack was floating. He was floating above his head, over the cliff side. No wings. No dragons. No harness. Hiccup moved his mouth but the words wouldn't form.

Jack grinned at his expression, cupped his hand and formed a snowball out of thin air. He pegged it at his head, causing him to duck for the second time. When he looked back Jack had planted his staff in the ground again, but instead of standing next to it he had crouched his body on the crook as if it was the most natural thing to do.

"Ok buddy," Jack said, crossing his arms, "let's chat for a bit."

…

Silence.

"_You're sure_?"

Silence.

"_Really…? Reeeeallly? Oh you. You've been doing such a good job little one. We are so proud of you, so very proud."_

More silence.

"_And the Thread? Is it done yet? Has the codger given it up yet…? Mmmmhm… All right, keep working on it. And uh," _Jack O' Lantern paused, handing the big man one of his swords, "_give them something to cry about when they get back."_

North grasped the sword in a tight grip and watched the pumpkin disappear in a whirlwind of smoke and fire. Blinking, he looked down at the weapon in his hand, and a pained expression crossed his face. It didn't stay for long.

With a grunt, the big man turned on his heels and slowly marched towards the Tooth Fairy's chambers.


End file.
